Archive for Misc.

I can’t believe this year is coming to a close already! It sure flew by! Here we go guys, this is my gift guide for the year of all my favorite things that I’ve found! Read each list clockwise starting in the upper left corner Happy Holidays!!

Melissa’s Virtue Flats These flats are so super cute! And eco friendly! They are 100% recyclable! Holiday Bonus offer! Enter Veggiegirl15 at checkout and get 15% off your whole order!

KRZE STUDIO Clair Bag Leila creates some of the most beautiful all vegan handbags in Italy! AND she is about to launch her shoe line! I’m drooling!

Amazonas Sandals These sandals aren’t only cute, they are made up of “eco rubber” that’s at least 80% recycled materials!

Vaute Couture Book In Luxe-Petal If you aren’t familiar with Vaute Couture, go ahead an get an education on her site! She is turning out some of the most beautiful and eco fashion out there!

Namaste The Monroe BagThis bag is sitting right next to me right now. It usually is! This is my go-to travel bag! It fits my laptop, my snacks, my favorite scarf, my passport, and anything else I need!

One Love Unified Long Sleeve Raglan This shirt is one of the comfy coziest shirts I have! I also love the meaning behind this shirt and company. The peace sign design is made up of all the countries in the world spelled out and they donate part of their proceeds to charity.

Sugarbaby Aprons These are my favorite aprons that I wear in almost all of my cooking classes and appearances. I adore the style and they are having a huge sale right now!

Glasstic Water Bottles These water bottles are so cool! They are glass on the inside and have a plastic outer case that makes them virtually unbreakable. Which is great for someone like me who travels with their bottles all over the world and has dropped them all over too They are truly glasstastic!

Shiny Spoons Buckwheat Pudding I discovered these puddings at Green Festival in Washington DC and they are deelish! They are vegan, gluten free, soy free, and yummy! My favorite flavor is the dark, dark chocolate!

Hail Merry Macaroons If you know me, you have heard me RAVE about Hail Merry snacks! I love these products! They have these fabulous Holiday tins they are offering this year with their raw, gluten free, vegan, incredible coconut macaroons **Please note the blondies have just sold out! But they do have my favorite flavor: the chocolate, chocolate chip!!

My Other Bag Dopp Kit Spending most of my days on the road, this dopp kit is super cute and perfect for anyone who likes to travel in style

One Love Unified Mens T-Shirt I know I already featured the women’s tee, but I just love the design of these shirts and I think it’s the perfect gift for men too!

My Other Bag ToteOk, I’m slightly obsessed with these bags… they are just perfect for travel, the market, gym, everything! I have brought mine all over the world. It’s a stylish alternative to those “other” bags.

Sprout Watches I cannot get enough of these watches! I gave a few of them for gifts last year and don’t tell, but more people are getting them this year They are eco friendly! Made from cork, bamboo, and corn!

Cardiff Skates Last but not least! You guys, these are my absolute favorite thing this year on the list! These skates are so cool and I looooooove mine! They strap right to your shoes so you never have to sit down to take them on and off! They are also way easier than roller blades (if you went to college with me, you probably saw me eat dirt multiple times on campus lol!)

Alright! That’s the list this year! I hope you enjoy and find some fun stuff!!

Just cause they are called “meatballs” doesn’t mean I can’t make vegan ones right? These cocktail balls are perfect for your next soiree served with my avocado aioli or my chili-grape sauce. Or if you want to be super traditional, you can serve these with marinara and a big pile of spaghetti! Leslie’s Meat(Less)Balls 1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed 1 15 oz. can of white beans, drained and rinsed 1 onion, minced 5 cloves of garlic, minced 8 oz. mushrooms, finely chopped 1/2 cup oats 1/2 cup cooked brown rice 1/4 cup breadcrumbs 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (optional) 1 heaping tbsp. chili powder 2 tsp. paprika 1 tsp. cumin 1/2 tsp. salt 1-2 tbsp. red wine With a potato masher or your hands, smash the beans in a large bowl until most of the beans are smashed. Add in all of the other ingredients. Mix well! Roll your meatballs into 1-1 1/2 inch size balls. Now you can either bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes flipping halfway through OR You can cook these in a frying pan sprayed with just a little bit of cooking oil on medium high heat until browned all around. Enjoy!! ps you can roll these balls and refrigerate overnight or even freeze!

Between the cold weather and the CDC’s confirmed Flu Epidemic sweeping the nation, I thought I’d direct you to my hot soup feature on Mother Nature Network … it may be a year-old, but I’d say it’s steamy with relevance! Just click the pic for all the recipes and stay well!

Some of you may have known it is World Water Day today and some of you may not have. As I sit here writing this I realize I unintentionally set a large glass of water next me… After reading about what’s happening in the world I feel so privileged to be able to have not only this glass of water, but a glass of water whenever I’d like one. Let me share a few shocking statistics with you.

-3.575 million people die each year from a water related disease.

-The human body contains from 55% to 78% water, depending on body size. To function properly, the body requires between one and seven liters of water per day to avoid dehydration.

-884 million people lack access to clean water.

-Today every20 seconds a child dies from a water related illness.

-People living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.

With the help of organizations like water.org and UNICEF hopefully these statistics will eventually be a thing of the past. I urge you to go to their websites and see what you can do to help in your own community and around the world.

*Photos were taken from water.org and statistics from water.org and wikipedia.

For three days, Leslie Durso sought out vegan tasting food at SOBE Wine & Food, but all she found was some Mojito Mint, courtesy of VeeV, and the Hail Merry Snacks she packed for an emergency, which clearly this was!

Happy early New Years! For today’s post, I’m going to direct you to Mother Nature Network’s site. It’s a site I started writing for and I just posted “6 cocktails for however you celebrate New Years”. Definitely spend some time on MNN.com. It’s a really cool website!

There are a lot of Italians in this world and I’d say just about every single one makes their gravy (tomato sauce) a little differently. If you are looking for traditional check out my Tomato Sauce Recipe. If you want to try something is a slightly different texture, try this rustic version. It’s delish! It’s fabulous served over pasta, polenta, or quinoa, and is also fab on some toasts as a super easy appetizer.

Rustic Tomato Sauce

Serves 6

What you’ll need:

1 medium onion, halved and sliced

olive oil

1 28oz. can of whole san marzano tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

a pinch of sugar

a stem of fresh basil, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

What you’ll do:

In a large frying pan over medium heat, saute the onion in some olive oil and a pinch of salt until soft. Add in the can of tomatoes, stir and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon break up the tomatoes. Add the sugar and garlic and simmer another few minutes. Stir in the basil and serve over pasta, polenta, quinoa, etc.

Ah, the age old question of what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers… Well, aside from the obvious reheating and eating as it, there are a few options. Mashed potatoes make fabulous gnocchi, I love stirring cranberry sauce into muffin mix and you can turn baked sweet potatoes into my sweet potato skins. This Thanksgiving I decided to turn three leftover items into a tart.

I had an extra sheet of puff pastry from an appetizer I made, leftover spinach and a little leftover corn. I sauteed the spinach, corn, some garbanzo beans and garlic in a frying pan. I then poured it all onto a puff pastry sheet, leaving room for the edges and toped it with a little cheese we also had leftover. Into a 400 degree oven it went for about 15 minutes and voila a fabulous little tart that tasted fab. So good I actually think I’ll intentionally make this again!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! What are you doing with your leftovers?

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I spent the better part of this weekend trying to come up with a new gravy recipe. Don't get me wrong, I have dreams about my mushroom gravy that I always serve, but this year I thought I would try to come up with something new. I have to say… I got nothing… This mushroom gravy recipe is still by far my favorite! I hope you enjoy as well

In a large frying pan, on medium low heat, melt the butter and add in the onions, portobello mushrooms and garlic. Add a pinch of salt. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add the wild mushrooms and saute for another couple minutes. Add the flour and mix until dissolved.

Add in the vegetable broth and cornstarch. Stir to dissolve all the cornstarch. Let cook for another couple minutes and add the soy sauce. Taste and season.